Explorers of the time rift - Fire and Water
by Sharkey52
Summary: Based on the plot of Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky. Isis, a young water spirit, wishes to become an explorer. When she meets Aka, an amnesiac fire spirit, and Hiram, a wanted outlaw, she finds herself in a battle to stop the paralysis of time itself.
1. A storm at sea

**Explorers of the time rift**

**Fire and Water**

**A storm at sea**

**Lightning split the sky in half. The rain bucketed down into the sea, recoiling and striking with rage in the storm.**

"**Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa! Are...are you okay?"**

"**Just hold on! We're almost there!"**

"**I can't! I can't hold on!"**

"**No...Don't let go! Just hang on a little longer!"**

"**I'm trying! I can't!"**

"**Don't let go! You can't! No...NO!"**

* * *

><p>Dawn was breaking. The stars were still out but you could make out the faint line of the rising sun on the horizon above the rolling waves. A girl paced in front of the cave at the top of the steps. The cave was shaped like a serpent, and its entrance was known only as the Eye of the Viper, even though you walked through the viper's mouth rather than its eye. The girl was about 12, with dark blue eyes and long black-brown hair that was continuously wet. She sighed as she ran her fingers through it. If she was a water spirit and had control over water, why was it only her body that stayed dry when she exited water? Maybe it was true what the entire town said maybe she was a klutz of a water spirit. After all, she couldn't even make an orb of water float in midair without soaking someone. She sighed and touched her necklace. From it hung a circular slab of stone with an emblem painted on it. A crashing wave; the emblem of water. So she was a klutz, she was still a water spirit. So why did this guild seem to pose such a threat to her? For months and months she'd tried to work up the courage to enter it, and that was only walking through the front door.<p>

"No!" she growled "I refuse to be paralysed by this any longer!" She took a step forwards, then froze and finally hit her head for doing so "Come on Isis! This is it! You're going to steel your courage today!" She stepped forwards onto a grate on the floor. Almost immediately a voice from below cried:

"Spirit detected! Spirit detected! What is you element symbol? Spirit detected!"

"Yow!" Isis leapt back off the grate and landed at the top of the steps, shivering like a leaf in distress.

"That was too shocking!" she squeaked, then she calmed herself "Whew... I-I can't... I can't work up the courage to go in after all... I told myself today is the day, but..." She sighed and lifted something out of her bag that was hung over her shoulder. A silver rock with a polished smooth top. On this top was drawn a white decorative symbol.

'_I thought holding my personal treasure would inspire me_' she thought '_I've had this relic for years. It's always been my lucky charm. But..._' She sighed and put the relic back in her bag '_I just can't do it. I'm such a coward... This is so discouraging..._' Then she turned and headed down the steps.

A few seconds after Isis had left, two male spirits with black hair existed the bushes to the left of the grate.

"Hey Mot" said the first one, he was slightly shorter than his friend "Did you get a load of that?"

"You bet I did Thanatos" nodded Mot.

"That little wimp was pacing around..." said Thanatos "She had something good, right?"

"She had something alright" said Mot "I've heard of her. She lives around here and is famous for mucking up stuff."

"That thing looked like some kind of treasure" said Thanatos.

"Well let's go after it" said Mot "She's hopeless. Has no control over her powers what so ever. If we both head in together, that thing is ours." They both headed down the steps after her.

* * *

><p>The sun was rising slowly. The waves were gently lapping against the beach, puffed out from last night's storm. Birds flew peacefully in the sky, the fish darting around the shallow waters. Two little water spirits on the other beach beyond the rocks were running around with their giant bubble blowers, making bubbles fly over the sea peacefully. Isis watched them, heading out to explore new lands beyond the skyline.<p>

"Oh wow!" she beamed '_What a pretty sight_! _I know when the weather's good the Derya of the waters leave their boats to blow bubbles, but I've never seen it just at dawn before. All those bubbles catching the sun's rays... It's always beautiful._' Isis smiled. She was Derya by blood, but she'd left the boat of her parents a long time ago. The day she'd fished her relic out of the waters, that day had been when she'd come ashore. She couldn't be an explorer if she lived only on water.

'_That is, if I ever become an explorer_' she thought '_I can't whilst I'm too chicken to go into the guild._' She sighed '_This is where I always come when I'm feeling sorry for myself. It makes me feel better, always. I guess something born from the waters can't leave them forever._' She sighed.

"Coming here is uplifting" she whispered "It cheers me up." She turned her head and looked down the beach. She gasped. There was something lying on the two rocks near the end of the beach. She ran forwards, trying to see what it was. Then, as she grew closer, she gasped. A boy, about 13 or 14 with dust-brown hair, lying on the sand unconscious.

"Someone's collapsed on the sand!" she gasped, she knelt down beside him and tried to find a pulse. She turned him over on his back and saw his chest rise and fall. Good, he was breathing. But Isis had never seen a spirit like him before. His clan marking, just above his wrist, was unfamiliar to her: two semi-circles back-to-back with a line down the centre. He wasn't dark skinned, but his skin had an olivey colour to it. Then she saw his amulet, and inspected the symbol. She gasped. Everything suddenly made sense. Why she had never seen a boy like this before. His emblem: a roaring flame. She gulped. He was a fire demon.


	2. Two thieves and a hero

**Two thieves and a hero**

Isis knew the fire demons had no good reputation. After the signature of the Treaty of the Flames, most of the fire demons, or as they preferred to be called fire spirits, remained on the north-western volcanic island that the other spirits referred to as Molten Rock, even though the island wasn't made out of molten rock. The treaty didn't stop fire spirits coming to any other island, but if they were to deliberately cause trouble using their powers then the sentence could go right up to execution. Isis looked down at the boy. He was so young, so frail compare to the other fire spirits. How could he have come to deliberately cause trouble? Fire spirit or not fire spirit, he needed help.

'_He's badly injured, he must have got washed in during last night's storm_' she thought '_He's lucky he didn't drown._'

"Hello?" she clicked her fingers above his eyes and shook him "Anyone in there?" The boy shivered and then he opened his eyes, brown eyes that seemed almost crimson.

"You're awake!" Isis felt relieved "What happened? Are you okay?" He was looking about, looking very confused.

"Where...where am I?" he breathed. He sounded weak.

"You weren't moving, I was seriously worried about you!" Isis felt herself going into one of her rants "Do you remember how you ended up unconscious out here?" His eyes kept opening and closing, he appeared to be adjusting to the light. Something seemed odd though. It was like he was adjusting for the first time, like he'd never seen the sun before.

"I...I was unconscious?" he appeared to be getting stronger "What happened...?"

"Well, I'm Isis" Isis smiled "Isis of the Deryan water spirits! Only I'm not exactly a Derya any more, I sort of ostracised myself, but that's all in the past now! Glad to meet you!" She tried to settle down, but the rant was upon her "So who are you exactly? I've never seen you around here before. You're a fire de-... I mean fire spirit correct?"

"Fire spirit?" the by seemed confused "I...I don't know what you mean. I'm a human."

"What?" Isis almost let go of him in shock "A human? You looked like a totally normal fire spirit to me!" The boy kept looking around. He was plainly trying to recognise something.

"It...it's true?" he asked "I've become a fire spirit? How...how did this happen? I...I don't remember anything..."

"You're...a little odd..." Isis felt a little mean saying this, but it was true "Are you pulling some kind of trick on me?" The boy looked both furious and alarmed, shaking his head. His face wore a glare that plainly said:

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"So, you're telling the truth" Isis looked puzzled, she felt it too "Alright then, what's your name?" The boy paused for a long time, and just as Isis thought he was never going to speak he replied:

"Aka. My name is Aka. I remember that."

"Okay, so your name is Aka" Isis looked at him expressionless "Ok. Well, you don't seem to be a bad spirit at least." She sighed and shook her head "Sorry that I doubted you. More and more bad spirits have been turning lately, you see. Many spirit have grown aggressive recently. Things have grown sort of lawless..." She got to her feet.

"Bad spirits?" Aka was sitting up by himself now "You mean like them?"

"What do you...?" Isis stopped speaking as someone rammed into her. Her bag was sent flying across the sand as she landed in the water. She stood up, annoyed, but wasn't dripping wet, as ever. The advantages of being a water spirit.

"Ouch!" She complained. Two dark spirits were standing quite close to Aka, next to her bag.

"Sorry about that" smiled Thanatos.

"Hey! Why'd you do that?" Isis felt her anger boiling over-time.

"Can't you figure it out?" Mot smiled "We wanted to mess with you. You can't face up to us, can you?"

"Wh-what?" Okay, Isis had to admit that was probably true. But she wasn't letting these guys know that.

"That's yours isn't it?" Thanatos pointed at her bag on the ground. Her relic was poking out of it.

"Yes, that's mine" nodded Isis. Thanatos picked the bag up, the relic inside.

"Well, we'll just take it then" he smiled "What's wrong? Not going to make a move to take it back?"

"What's the matter?" asked Mot "Don't tell me you really are a klutz of a water spirit."

"Only _I_ am allowed to call myself a klutz!" scolded Isis, fuming.

"Okay then, see you around chicken" smiled Thanatos. The two of them ran into a cave.

"Come back here!" Isis was practically hopping mad. She looked back at Aka "Stay here, I'll be right back." She rushed into the cave after them, Aka watching her leave with the upmost confusion.

* * *

><p>"Hey!" Isis went running down the cave steps as fast as her legs would take her. She reached a large pit with a pool at the far end. Standing by this water was Thanatos and Mot.<p>

"Well well" smiled Thanatos "If it isn't our old friend the big chicken."

"Give...give me back what you stole form me!" demanded Isis "That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!"

"Treasure you say?" asked Mot "So this thing really is valuable huh?" He held up her bag with the relic inside.

"It could be worth more than we hoped for I'd say" said Thanatos "We ought to try selling it. Who knows? It might get a good price. Well, all the more reason to not give it back!"

"That thing's a rock! But it's valuable to me!" cried Isis, exasperated.

"Well, if you want it back, come and get it" smiled Mot "You're a water spirit. Wouldn't this be your type of place?" Isis gave a growl of annoyance. What could she do? She would have to fight, but this was a girl who couldn't even make a few bubbles let alone battle two shadow spirits. She growled. She needed to get that relic back, at all costs!

"Fine!" Isis growled "You asked for it!" She focused her energy into her palms and raised them, glaring at the pool beyond her enemies. Two big bubbles rose out of the pool. She curled her fingers and the two bubbles sped forwards, hitting both Mot and Thanatos on the back of their heads. They looked quite cold and frustrated, but they were smiling.

"So that's it?" asked Mot "That's your big come-back speech." They both started laughing as Isis growled.

"Wait a minute." They all stopped abruptly. They could hear footsteps. Someone was coming down the steps.

'_Please be an explorer; please, please be an explorer who can stop these guys_!' Isis had her fingers crossed. It wasn't an explorer though. A boy, with brown hair and eyes that were a brown almost crimson.

"Aka!" burst Isis. She was astonished to see the boy walking just fine. He stopped next to her, staring down the thieves.

"I believe you've taken something that doesn't belong to you" he said calmly but firmly "I suggest you return it."

"Yeah right" sneered Thanatos "Make me demon!" Aka didn't budge.

"I'm giving you three seconds to return that bag to Iris" he said.

"Isis" corrected Isis, but she didn't go any further. Aka seemed so strong and proud. She could see him as being human.

"Come on Thanatos" Mot looked at his partner "We'll just get rid of this demon together." Thanatos nodded. They both flicked their palms out. Shadows swept from the corners of the cave, forming into an enormous black shadow waves. "Three," Aka glared at the wave as it approached them "Two," the wave was almost upon them "ONE!" As the wave came plummeting down towards him, Aka raised both his palms to the ceiling. A tongue of flame flew skywards so high Isis couldn't see the top of it. The shadows turned and swept away into the depths of the cave, swirling back among the rocks and columns. The flames then fell and hit the sand, creating a ripple that crossed the sand and knocked both Thanatos and Mot off their feet, the bag flying out of Mot's hand. Aka looked down at his hands, still crackling with fire.

"A fire spirit" he breathed, then he nodded "I can get used to that."

"Owowow!" Thanatos sat up, rubbing the back of his head "Ugh... We got roughed up..."

"B-blast it!" growled Mot, sitting up also, rubbing his arm "How did we get beat by the likes of them?"

"Do you need another three second countdown before you run?" Aka folded his arms. Both Thanatos and Mot could see the sparks leaping off Aka's hands and plainly decided it was best to keep away from the fire spirit. They both picked themselves up and rushed past Aka and Isis up the steps out of the cave. Aka walked over to the bag and held it up.

"Yours I believe?" he asked. Isis nodded and took it from him gratefully.

"My relic fragment's still here" Isis opened it and beamed "I'm so glad! I thought I'd lost it!" She smiled up at Aka "It's only because you helped me Aka. Thank you! Thank you so much!"

* * *

><p>Outside the cave, Aka and Isis sat down on the sand by the rocks where they'd met. The relic sat in between them, half-buried in the sand so it sat up straight. Both were staring at the mysterious pattern on top.<p>

"Thank you! Seriously!" Isis smiled for the zillionth time. Aka stared at her, studying her.

'_I only helped out because I was around to do so_' he thought '_That was the right thing to do, surely_?' He smiled '_I guess so. This spirit is clearly grateful. It's nice to be appreciated._' Isis looked down at the relic.

"This is what they stole" she explained "It's a relic fragment... Well at least that's what I've started calling it. But this relic fragment...it's my most precious treasure." She smiled "You see, I've always loved legends and lore. I always get so excited when I hear tales from the past. Don't you feel the same way? Hidden troves full of treasures and strange relics...just like this one." Isis looked out to sea "Uncharted territories veiled in darkness...and new lands just waiting to be discovered! Such places must be filled with unimaginable gold and treasure! And history! Wouldn't it be amazing it make historic discoveries?" She turned back to Aka "That's what I always dream of. It's all exciting to me. So one day, I fished this relic fragment out of the waters near my parents' boat. I know it looks like a piece of junk, but take a closer look at the top of it." Aka had been looking at it for some time. The white pattern on the top.

"See? That inscription makes a strange pattern, doesn't it?" asked Isis.

"_It's true_' thought Aka '_There is a strange inscription. I've never seen a pattern like this. At least, I think I haven't._'

"There must be some significance to this pattern" continued Isis "This relic fragment must be the key to one of the legendary places. To areas where precious treasures lie! At least, that's the feeling I get." She smiled and Looked Aka in the eye "And that's why I want to join an exploration team. This fragment must fit into something...somewhere! I want to discover where that is. I want to solve the mystery of this relic fragment. So earlier I tried to join the Psyia Guild as an apprentice but..." Her head fell "I chickened out. Each time for months I couldn't do it..." She sighed and looked at Aka again "So Aka. What are you going to do now? You lost your memory and you're a fire spirit now. They're hardly well-wanted spirits around here. Do you have anywhere to go and stay after this?" Aka said nothing, his head dropped.

"If not, can I ask a big favour?" asked Isis "Would you be willing to join an exploration team with me?"

"What?" Aka stared at her as if she'd just lost it.

"I saw you before" said Isis "I'm convinced I can be part of an effective exploration team with you, Aka. So will you?"

'_Whoa...what_? _Okay, I wasn't expecting this. Being chased after by a 12-year-old water spirit, a __**female**__12-year-old water spirit at that, was never in the day-planner. Mind you, neither was losing my memory or turning into a spirit. I could say no, but by the looks of things if I do refuse she'll just come after me. And I don't have anywhere to go..._'

"Alright then" he sighed "Just until I can get my memories back. Then, you're on your own."

"What? Really!" Isis looked like her favourite all-time movie had just come on TV "Yes yes yes yes yes! Thank you!"

'_I'm going to regret this_' Aka couldn't help but feel worried, especially when Isis lent forwards and hugged him.

"We're going to be the best exploration team ever!" Isis beamed "So head to the Psyia Guild and do this Aka!"


	3. The Psyia Guild

**The Psyia Guild**

"This is the Eye of the Viper" explained Isis, reaching the top of the steps "It's the entrance to the Psyia Guild."

"So why is it called the _Eye_ of the Viper?" asked Aka, folding his arms "Shouldn't it be the _Mouth_ of the Viper?"

"I dunno, I didn't make it up" Isis shrugged "To be an exploration team you need to register here. Then you have to train until you become a first-rate exploration team." She gulped "Isn't there just something odd about this place? Something creepy?" Aka nodded slightly. He felt a ripple of nervousness, was that what Isis was going on about? Isis gulped.

'_No, I've got Aka with me this time_! _I have to be brave_!' Isis took a deep breath and walked onto the grate.

"Spirit detected! Spirit detected! What is you element symbol? Spirit detected!"

"Yikes!" Isis would have leapt off the grate again but took a deep breath and stayed calm "N-no! I have to be strong!" She untied her necklace and placed it on the grate, the symbol facing downwards.

"The spirit is water! A Derya water spirit! You may ENTER!" The curtain hanging down in front of the cave swept itself aside. As Isis moved off the grate the voice said: "There's someone with you. So get that stranger to stand up THERE!"

"Come on Aka" Isis smiled "It's not as bad as it seems."

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Aka growled. If there was one thing he wouldn't put up with it was being bossed around by this water spirit he'd done so many favours for. He stepped onto the grate.

"Spirit detected! Spirit detected! What is you element symbol? Spirit detected!" Instead of being terrified like Isis, Aka just looked at his friend, completely baffled. Isis tied her necklace back on and pointed at the emblem. Aka took his cue and removed his amulet, placing it on the grate.

"The spirit is... um...er..." The voice seemed baffled.

"SENTRY!" a much louder voice boomed "WHAT TYPE OF SPIRIT IS IT?"

"Well I...er..." Down in the hole below the grate, a child earth spirit sat there, cross-legged, watching the grate with the upmost confusion "I...um..." He cocked his head to one side "Maybe fire spirit! Maybe fire spirit!"

"MAYBE!" the loud voice roared back "SENTRY! WHAT'S MAYBE SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"

"B-But, it's not an emblem I'm used to seeing around here!" complained Sentry, looking plainly stressed.

"YOU CALL THAT AN EXCUSE? YOUR JOB IS CHECKING THE EMBLEMS OF VISITING SPIRITS... AND YOU HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE WHAT THIS ONE IS!" Okay, that did annoy the lookout.

"I do know what it is!" complained Sentry "It's a fire spirit alright! A fire spirit!"

Up on top, Aka and Isis were looking very confused.

"Um... well... That's never happened before" said Isis "Are they arguing down there?"

"...Sorry to make you wait" the voice returned "Well it's TRUE you don't see many fire spirits in these parts... but you don't SEEM to be bad. Okay, good enough! ENTER!" Isis looked into the cave.

"At least I go in this time" she smiled "Oh, sorry. I mean _we_. Let's head on in then." The pair of them walked into the cave. The only thing in was a ladder made out of rope strung together with vines leading down into a hole in the floor.

"Well, onwards and downward I guess" Aka shrugged.

* * *

><p>The room at the bottom of the ladder as very comfortable. Layered with grass, it had two notice boards and some sofas. It even had a large TV on a coffee table. Sitting on these sofas and dotted around the place were several exploration teams.<p>

"Wow!" Isis ran into the centre of the room "So this is the Psyia Guild! So many spirits on exploration teams!"

"Well, most of them only come in for missions, but we do have some boarders." Both turned around as a female spirit climbed up a second ladder from a lower floor. This spirit was a wind spirit. She had ice-white hair and blue eyes that looked like they could kill with gaze alone.

'_She's an albino_' thought Aka. Albinism didn't stop this woman from giving them the cold shoulder though.

"It was you two who just came in right?" she asked, her eyes giving them an icy stare.

"Yep!" Isis didn't pick up on the woman's coldness "That was us!"

"I'm Icaria" said the woman, not sounding quite as cold now "I'm the spirit to know around these parts. I'm Guild master Psyiatro's right-wing woman." Then her eyes hardened again "Now shoo! Leave the premises! We have no time for salespeople or silly surveys! Off you go, if you please!"

"N-No! That's not why we're here!" cried Isis, alarmed "We want to form an exploration team!"

"An exploration team?" Icaria raised an eyebrow "You two make an odd couple." She looked away and started muttering "It's rare to see a kid like this want to apprentice at the guild. Especially given how hard our training is! The steady stream of spirits that run away from our vigorous training proves that!"

"Excuse me?" Isis was looking confused "Something wrong?"

"Well, better give the kid what she wants..." Icaria finished muttering and smiled "Well why didn't you just tell me up-front that you wanted to be an exploration team?"

"Her attitude suddenly changed, didn't it?" muttered Isis to Aka. The fire spirit nodded.

"Okay, let's get your team signed up right away" Icaria smiled "Follow me!" Icaria barely gave them a second to think about it before she half-dragged them down the other ladder.

* * *

><p>The second floor was different. It was almost empty and into very big with corridors leading off to the left, right and a door in the wall just beyond the ladder. There was also a big hole in the floor a blue snake-like dragon was sitting by.<p>

"This second floor is mainly where the apprentices work" explained Icaria "Team registration takes place here. Come this way." Icaria led them towards the door, but Isis rushed straight to the window next to it.

"Wow!" she beamed "We're two floors underground yet you can still have windows with amazing views of the ocean!"

"That's because the guild is built into a cliff" explained Icaria, frowning slightly. Aka didn't blame her. "Now, through this door is Guild master Psyiatro's chamber. On no account... I repeat, no account, should you be discourteous to our guild master." She turned to the door "Guild master! It's Icaria! I'm coming in!" She led them through the door into a room which was quite different. It was smaller and was filled up mainly by a large pink rug. There were two funny barbeque-like fires which weren't lit and some treasure chests. Sitting cross-legged with his back to them was a spirit with auburn hair. He would probably have been about 9 or 10 years old and appeared to be a ceordi, a spirit that could control all elements. Isis had heard of such things, but felt in awe to be in the presences of one, even if he was younger than her.

"Guild master" Icaria cleared her throat, stepping to the side "I present to you two spirits that wish to join our guild as apprentices." The ceordi didn't budge. Icaria looked surprised "Guild master...um...Guild master?" The ceordi began rocking back and forth. Then he rocked so far back that he actually rolled over onto his back and stared at Aka and Isis with creepy but playful green eyes which contrasted with his auburn hair.

"Hiya!" he beamed, making both Aka and Isis jump. He rolled over onto his side and then got to his fee "I'm Psyiatro! I'm the Psyia Guild's Guild master!" Both Aka and Isis shared a look that plainly said:

"Seriously?" Psyiatro didn't appear to catch on though.

"You want to form an exploration team?" he asked, his voice was noticeably and unsurprisingly childish "Then let's go for it! First we have to register your team's name!" Isis faltered.

"We haven't got a team name" she said "What about you Aka? Any ideas for a team name?" Aka would have probably said something along the lines of 'Team Isis-is-extremely-annoying', but then he remembered something.

"What do you call that rock thingy?" he asked.

"What, my relic fragment?" asked Isis. Aka raised an eyebrow "Oh! I get it!" Isis smiled at Psyiatro "We're Team Relic!"

"All settled then!" Psyiatro was beaming more than Isis. Aka had a feeling they may become good friends to his displeasure "I'll register your team as Team Relic! Icaria!" Icaria snapped to attention and left the room in a hurry.

"Icaria will go and register you!" Psyiatro's grin got bigger, if that was possible "Congratulations! From now on, you're an official exploration team! So now I can present these to you!" He walked over, or more like danced over, to a treasure chest and pulled out two badge-like things. They both had a winged sphere with a Yin-Yang symbol in the middle. Only in this case the Yin was blue and the Yang was red.

"These are your explorer badges" beamed Psyiatro "It's your official team identification."

"You know, I think it suits us" Isis nodded proudly, taking her badge.

"Exactly how?" asked Aka, sarcasm stinging his voice.

"The Yin-Yang blue-red thing" explained Isis "I'm a water spirit and female, the Yin. And you're a fire spirit and male, the Yang." Aka only muttered one thing that Isis just managed to pick up on:

"I wasn't always a fire spirit."

"Thank you!" Isis turned to Psyiatro, ignoring Aka "We'll do our best!"

"Yup. But you're only apprenticing right now" said Psyiatro, his smile seemed to size down to normal a bit "So do your best...to train!" He stretched into a massive grin again on the last two words.

"We will!" beamed Isis, then turning to Aka "Let's always do our best Aka! And let's get this team off and flying!"

* * *

><p>"This is your room." Some while after meeting Psyiatro, Aka and Isis bumped into Icaria who decided to show them their room at the far end of the corridor on the left. A small circular room with a window and two beds of the softest straw.<p>

"Great! We get beds!" Isis flopped down pathetically on the one by the exit. Aka sat down on the other, not making a fuss

"You're live here as you work for us" explained Icaria "Things will start getting busy for you tomorrow. So rise early and start living up to our code!" Aka and Isis shared a glance of confusion. What code?

"Don't stay up late, get to sleep early tonight" warned Icaria "That is all."

The moon shone above the guild as the residents fell asleep. Curled up on their beds under two blankets they'd 'borrowed' from a dormitory-neighbour who was out, Aka and Isis dozed quietly beneath the stars.

"Aka?" Isis raised her head slightly "Aka are you awake too?" Aka shuffled under his blanket. He was awake; he just had no intention of speaking. Isis didn't mind, she could work with that "My heart's been racing all day over everything little thing... But I'm glad I finally made myself come here. I thought that Psyiatro would be scary, but actually he's pretty friendly. We're going to experience all sorts of scary things tomorrow, but I'm not very scared. In fact, it's the other way around. I'm really excited about the adventures we'll face!" She yawned "I'm feeling a little sleepy... Let's give it our all tomorrow Aka. Let's give it our... give it our... give it..." Isis then started snoring loudly. Aka's eyes flashed open.

'_Now I'm suddenly apprenticing at the guild...I gotta admit, it's pretty exciting to be part of an exploration team_' he thought '_And I guess it's even pretty fun to be friends with Isis..._' He mentally sighed '_But first things first... Who am I_?_ How did I become a fire spirit_?' With this he wrapped his hand around his amulet '_I don't even remember obtaining this. And how did I turn up unconscious on that beach_?' He just stopped himself from yawning '_I'm feeling sleepy too. Well, thinking about this won't help me now. I'd better focus on the guild's work for now. If I do that, I'll surely get to the bottom of this in time. Everything should become clear eventually... I hope._'


	4. RISE AND SHINE!

**RISE AND SHINE!**

"HEY! HEY THERE! RISE AND SHINE! IT'S MORNING!"

'_Ugh_!' Aka shuffled further under the blanket '_My head's pounding_! _Who is that loudmouth anyhow_?'

"Quit it!" Isis's voice yelled "You're bursting my eardrums!" Aka peered out from under the blanket. Very close to him, a bit too close for comfort in fact, was a big almost canine blue head. It was baring it's teeth. It was angry.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL **ASLEEP**?" It was apparently female "WAKE UP!"

"My poor ears!" Isis was moaning. But the dragon blocked Aka's view of her.

'_At least it's not yelling in your ear_' thought Aka, snorting.

"WHAT IS THE DEAL? SNAP OUT OF IT!" The dragon was reaching boiling point "I'M RALATIGU; BUT THAT'S RALLY TO YOU! I'M A FELLOW APPRENTICE!"

'_Gee, are all the apprentice neighbours as noisy as this_?' thought Aka.

"IF YOU'RE LATE FOR BRIEFING ASSEMBLY YOU'LL BE IN **MAJOR **TROUBLE! GUILD MASTER PSYIATRO HAS A **BIG** TEMPER! IF YOU MAKE HIM LOOSE IT...! THAT'LL BE ONE SCARY SCENE!" Rally was still yelling "SO MOVE IT!" She gave Aka a kick in the ribs with a scaled leg. It winded Aka and shocked him so much he rolled straight out of bed into the wall.

"Ow!" Aka groaned. Now his head, his stomach and his back all hurt.

"COME ON!" Now Rally had turned on Isis "I'M NOT GETTING IN TROUBLE BECAUSE YOU ROOKIES GOT UP **LATE**! **SO GET IN GEAR**!" Isis didn't need a kick to get her out of bed. At that particularly loud sentence she shot up like a rocket. Rally, satisfied her work was done, walked swiftly out of the room.

"My ears are still ringing!" groaned Isis, looking at Aka "You okay?"

"I-I will be" Aka sighed, dusting the dirt off his pyjamas he'd been lent "What did he say about us oversleeping?"

"Yikes! Did we?" burst Isis, jumping to her feet "Hurry up and get dressed! We're going to be late!"

* * *

><p>Outside the corridor, everyone was lined up. There were about six other apprentices plus Rally and Sentry, the little ground spirit who'd been sitting at the bottom of the grate yesterday. Icaria was there too, standing outside Psyiatro's door<p>

"YOU'RE **LATE** ROOKIES!" Rally bellowed at the two of them as they got into a line of two like the others.

"Hush!" complained Icaria "There's no need to wake up the world Ralatigu! Your voice is ridiculously loud!"

"HUMPH..." Rally turned her head away. She appeared to be sulking. Icaria looked up and down the lines.

"Everyone appears to be present" she noted "Very well. Let us conduct our morning address." She turned to the door "Guild master! The guild is in full attendance!" The door opened and Psyiatro walked into the room. Even Rally went silent as he gave them all the world's biggest grin.

"Thank you guild master" Icaria smiled "Please address the crew." Psyiatro said nothing, just made some odd groaning and mumbling noises. Aka saw it. Even with his eyes wide open, Psyiatro was on the verge of dropping off to sleep.

"Psst...Guild master Psyiatro never ceases to amaze me!" whispered a blonde-haired girl next to Isis.

"Yeah you got that right" whispered what appeared to be a larger version of Sentry.

"He's virtually asleep" whispered a red-haired boy "But his eyes are wide open! Eek!"

"Does this happen on a regular basis?" mumbled Isis.

"Um...thank you guild master for your magnificent...words of wisdom" Icaria said dryly, then turning to the crowd of apprentices "Alright explorers! Time to take the guild master's words of wisdom to heart! Finally, let's not forget our morning cheers! All together now!" Aka and Isis remained perfectly silent as the others called out.

"ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK! TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY! AND THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!"

"Okay spirits, get to work" said Icaria, satisfied they were done. They all left in various directions. Psyiatro wobbled his way back into his room. Everyone else went upstairs apart from Sentry who hopped down the hole in the floor and Rally who sat at the edge of it, beating her tail on the ground and whistling very loudly. Aka and Isis looked at each other clueless. So, where to go?

"Hey! You two!" Icaria was glaring at them "Don't just wander around there! Follow me up this ladder!"

"As beginners, we'll be starting you on the cases on this board" explained Icaria, leading them to one of the notice boards on the floor above "These are simple jobs, errands as you might say. But as you're aware, lots of bad spirits have been cropping up lately." Aka remembered the two from yesterday, but it appeared Isis knew a lot more on the subject.

"Yep, ever since the flow of time got messed up" nodded Isis.

'_Flow of time messed up_?' Aka felt confused, but tried not to show it '_Time as in hours and minutes_? _Do they mean something had gone wrong with time_? _And because of that more bad spirits are popping up_? _What's going on here_?'

"Precisely" nodded Icaria "Time had gone out of whack which has caused an outbreak of unlawful spirits. Some choose jobs to catch theses outlaws, but for now we'll put you on the easy jobs. Let's see..." She studied the board "Ah, here we go." Icaria took a piece of paper down and gave it to Isis.

"Okay...a light spirit...lost a pearl...craggy bluff..." Isis read, then she frowned "Hey! This is just going to return an item someone dropped! Isn't there something more adventurous? You know, investigating lost lands or something!"

"It's important that you rookies pay your dues!" complained Icaria, going on the defensive "Now quit the mumbling and get on with the job!" Isis gave her a murderous glare.


	5. One happy light spirit!

**Explorers of the time rift**

**Fire and Water**

**One happy light spirit!**

"See anything?" Aka could hear Isis's voice even though she was over half-a-mile down the cliff top. Whilst Isis was investigating the point, Aka had taken it upon himself to search the edge of the cliff by the rabbit holes that, if he was honest, weren't assisting with his pearl investigation.

"Small, round and orange" he muttered to himself. That was what Isis had described a sun pearl as. The wind was blowing hard across the cliff top, spraying Aka was plenty of cold droplets. Water felt much colder now he was a fire spirit, so even with the coat he'd borrowed from Icaria he was shivering to death. He tripped and fell forwards, almost hitting his nose on the ground. He recovered just in time although a burst of pain shot through his supporting leg.

"Stupid rabbit hole" he thought. Then he stopped as he removed his foot from it. The rabbit hole was different. It's soil was glinting amber. He reached in and felt his fingers touch something round and warm. He beamed.

"Hey Isis!" Unlike his partner, Aka had to yell at the top of his voice to be heard "Over here! I found it!"

* * *

><p>Back at the guild, Aka decided he would have rather remained on top of that cliff top tripping over rabbit holes and freezing to death all day. Icaria would have probably too. Isis made sure everyone knew how <em>she<em>'d found the sun pearl, and after that it was all rounded off by a very over-excited light spirit.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" The 9-year-old blonde was jumping around in a circle "This pearl means so much to me! It's like if you lost your amulet you see! I missed it so much! I couldn't settle down without it on my necklace!" That was where she was currently wearing it "But thanks to you that long nightmare is over! You have my sincerest thanks!"

'_I doubt they're that sincere_' thought Aka. He couldn't think of anything from this spirit being sincere. But then the light spirit hopped over to Isis and gave her two big gold coins.

"These are both worth £1000!" Isis cried.

"Of course! Of course! That's nothing compared to my pearl's value!" beamed the light spirit "Farewell!" She was practically skipping as he headed up the ladder out of the guild.

"We're rich Aka!" Isis was grinning like an idiot "We got rich just like that!"

"Well done team" Icaria walked over to them, pleased the light spirit had finally exited the building "Now hand over that money if you please." Okay, that got Isis fired up.

"Huh?" she cried, cupping the money away from Icaria "What do you mean?"

"Most of the money goes to the guild master, see" explained Icaria "It helps pay for your upkeep. But don't worry, you do get 10%." That really shocked Isis.

"We only get £200?" she complained "That's criminal!"

"Well, that's the guild's rule" Icaria shrugged "You simply have to accept it." A for the second time that day after meeting Icaria, Isis spent a good hour sulking. Just then a bell rung.

"Hey! Everyone!" A female voice called "Thanks for waiting!" Aka and Isis headed downstairs and found a pretty silvery-blonde water spirit with bright blue eyes addressing everyone. Even Sentry had reappeared from his hole.

"I finished making dinner!" the water spirit beamed "Come on! Before it gets cold!" There came a cheer loud enough to blow the roof off the guild before everyone piled into the corridor on the right to take them to the dining room.

* * *

><p>"Okay! Everyone done? Good. Go on now! Off to bed! Hit the hay!"<p>

"More like hit the straw" smiled Isis as she crawled under her blanket. Aka nodded, getting into bed also.

"Hey Aka" smiled Isis "Wasn't today hectic? So much happened! But I'm relieved our first job was a success. It was really upsetting how the guild took most of the money... But if it means Lakia can keep cooking meals like that I guess it's worth it!" She sighed, rolling onto her back "But what made me really happy was the thanks we got from the light spirit!" She yawned "Okay...I'm getting sleepy. I'm going to sleep. Let's try our best again tomorrow. G'night Aka." There came the sound of snoring louder than Rally, and Aka knew she was asleep.


	6. The scream

**Explorers of the time rift**

**Fire and Water**

**The scream**

"UP AND AT IT! RISE AND SHINE!" Aka felt it was barely a second after he'd fallen asleep he found Rally standing in the corridor yelling very loudly. Thankfully she didn't try and kick him in the ribs again.

"Oh shut up Rally!" Isis sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes "Ugh! Good morning Aka..." She groaned "Does nobody get any sleep around here?" But Aka was sure she knew the answer to that.

"AND THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" The assembly cheer ended.

"Okay spirits" said Icaria "Time to get to work!" All accept for Aka and Isis left. Oh, and Icaria.

"You two!" she gave them a sharp look "Still wandering around lost I see. Well, come with me." She led them upstairs again, but this time to them to a different notice board.

"Last time we did a job it was on the board over there" commented Aka.

"Correct. Today we'll find you a job listed on this side" nodded Icaria.

"So how is this board different to the other?" asked Isis.

"Take a closer look" explained Icaria.

"Oh! Look!" Isis was smiling "Look Aka! These posters show a variety of different spirits! They all look really cool! Are they famous explorers?" Icaria's face faded.

"Quite the opposite Isis" she sighed "The spirits listed here are outlaws. They're all shady characters, and they're all wanted for committing various crimes." Isis's face fell like a rock.

"Oh no! They're outlaws?" she cried.

"Correct" nodded Icaria "They're outlaws so there are bounties on their heads. In other words, they're a cash reward if you catch one of them. There are so many aggressive spirits running around these days that everyone's finding it hard trying to keep up with the problem."

"Wait! You're telling us to head out and catch these outlaws?" cried Isis "You can't be serious! That's not possible!"

"Heehee! Just joking!" Icaria smiled "The spirits here come in all shads of badness. Some of these spirits are completely wicked through and through. But there are other bad spirits that are just petty thieves. So you've got evil to naughty and everything in between! I'm sure we can avoid giving you two a job catching super-bad spirits."

"Not wanting to back out now or anything, but I'm super-scared of bad spirits!" gulped Isis.

"Why do that not surprise me" sighed Icaria "That's why I want to send you on a slight errand today."

"Errand?" asked Aka.

"Yes, I need you to head down to Valdor Market down in Treasure Town" explained Icaria "They have a delivery for us. After you pick up that delivery we can find you the right outlaw."

"Valdor?" asked Aka.

"It's a combination of their names" explained Isis "It's run by twin sky spirits. There's the girl, Valery, and the boy, Erendor. They sell just about everything there." She nodded at Icaria "Sure, well pick up that parcel and be right back. After all," she looked at her partner "I don't think Aka's ever been to Treasure Town before."

* * *

><p>Treasure Town was a collection of stalls like a market mainly. There was barely anything there beyond stalls and spirits. But the biggest stall of all was the Valdor Market. It was huge and striped in blue and yellow.<p>

"Hey, Isis!" the girl, Valery, with long white hair the same shade of Icaria's smiled "Where've you been lately?"

"Everyone's going around saying you've joined the Psyia Guild finally" Erendor had his sister's green eyes, but his hair was a smoky-grey colour.

"They're correct" nodded Isis "In fact, I've been sent to pick up the delivery." Valery shoved a parcel across the stall to Isis. It was impossible to tell what was inside it.

"Icaria sending people to pick up her packages again" Valery sighed "Honestly. First Enki, and now you and..." She looked past Isis at Aka "And who's this?" Isis didn't have a chance to reply as a voice cried:

"Mister and Mistress Valdor!" Two Derya were running up the path together. One was slightly older, a girl of about 8 years of age, and the other, a boy, looked around 6-years-old.

"Ah! Little Wavebreak and Pebble!" Valery smiled "Welcome, my young friends!"

"Hello!" beamed the girl who they guessed was Wavebreak "May we buy an apple?"

"Oh, most certainly" smiled Erendor. He gave them a bag and they handed over a few little bronze coins.

"Thank you Mister Erendor!" beamed the boy, Pebble.

"No, thanks to you, my young friends" smiled Erendor "You are to be admired!" The two Derya left.

"You see, those delightful young Derya are brother and sister" explained Valery "Lately their poor mother has fallen sick. So those youngsters have been doing her shopping for her. It's quite remarkable. Though they're very young, they've stepped up and taken charge."

"Mister Erendor!" The Derya children were back, running at a hundred miles an hour through Treasure Town.

"Whoa, what's the hurry?" asked Valery "What made you come back in such a rush?"

"There was an extra apple in the bag" said Pebble gravely "We didn't pay for this much."

"I know that" nodded Erendor "That apple is a gift from me and my sister. Please share it among yourselves and enjoy."

"Whoa!" Isis was whispering, but Aka could still hear "They get an extra apple? No fair! I'm Derya too!"

"Really?" asked Wavebreak "A free apple?" She sounded as astonished as Isis.

"Yay!" Pebble made the most of the occasion "Thank you Mister Erendor!"

"Don't worry my dear friends" smiled Erendor "Do take care on your way home." Just as the Derya children were leaving though, Pebble tripped on a rock and fell.

"Yowch!" He looked like he might burst into tears. The apple he was carrying rolled across the ground to Aka's feet.

"You dropped this" said Aka, picking it up. Pebble got up and took the apple gratefully from Aka.

"W-we're sorry to bother you, thanks very much!" Pebble smiled.

"Don't worry. It's..." Aka stopped mid sentence. Something sent shivers up his spine. His heart raced and his hands trembled. He straightened and suddenly everything faded into blackness. Then, he almost jumped out of his skin as a scream split the black air in two. His thoughts trembled.

'_W-what's this_?'

* * *

><p>"Hello? Aka?" Isis placed her hands on her hips and looked puzzled. Aka had suddenly gone rigid, his eyes steely and staring into nothing. She waved her hand in front of his face.<p>

"Helllllooooo? Anyone in there?" Aka still didn't respond. She started clicking her fingers, trying to get him to blink.

"The lights are on but nobody's in" she commented. Suddenly Aka came back to life. He blinked; lost his rigidness and stumbled backwards, almost colliding with a barrel at the side of the stall. He had his hands over his ears, like he was trying to block out Rally yelling for them to get up in the morning.

'_What was that_?' his heart was pounding like a drum '_I'm sure I just heard someone scream just now_!' He looked around, then his eyes fixed on a very confused Pebble '_D-did you scream just now_?'

"Is something the matter?" asked Pebble, he certainly wasn't screaming now.

"Hey Pebble!" Wavebreak's voice called from up the path "What's going on back there? Hurry up! We need to find that item we lost!" Pebble forgot the whole Aka thing and turned in the direction Wavebreak had gone.

"Yup! I'm coming! Wait up!" Pebble turned and raced after his sister.

"Ha! Those little guys are cute!" beamed Isis. Aka paused.

'_Why's nobody looking around in panic_?' he thought '_Someone just screamed. It's like they're all oblivious to it_.'

"Hey what's the matter Aka?" asked Isis "You're staring off into space. You okay? You sort of went rigid back there."

"You didn't hear it?" asked Aka, Isis looked clueless "The scream?"

"Scream?" Isis looked baffled "No, I didn't hear anything?" She turned to the Valdor twins "Hey Valery, Erendor, did you hear anything strange just now?"

"Er, nothing out of the ordinary" Valery looked surprised "Is your friend there okay? He's gone really pale."

"You've probably just been in the sun too long Aka" Isis shrugged "You probably imagined it."

'_I didn't imagine it_!' Aka wanted to bite back '_I'm positive of that. I defiantly heard someone scream. There's no mistaking it. That was Pebble's scream_!'

"Er, are you daydreaming?" Isis was looking frustrated with him "Okay Aka, I think we ought to be getting back." Aka nodded, he wanted time to think about what had just happened. But they didn't get very far. About 100 yards down the road by a well they bumped into the Derya kids. They were talking to a male earth spirit with black hair.

"Weren't they the kids we just saw back there?" asked Isis "Now what trouble have they got themselves into?"

"Thank you!" Wavebreak was beaming "Thank you so much Mister Tlaloc!"

"Oh, it's nothing" smiled the man named Tlaloc. Isis and Aka then approached.

"What's going on?" asked Aka.

"Oh! Hi again!" beamed Pebble.

"Some time ago we lost an item really important to us" explained Wavebreak "We've been looking all over... But we haven't found it yet. Then Mister Tlaloc came along and he said he may have seen the lost item somewhere!"

"He even offered to help look for it!" beamed Pebble.

"Yeah! That's great for you!" smiled Isis. Pebble turned back to Tlaloc.

"Thank you Mister Tlaloc!" he smiled.

"Oh please" Tlaloc smiled in return "I'd have to have a cold heart to ignore kids in need! I can't turn a blind eye! Let's be on our way to begin our search!" They tried to head past the well down the path, but in the process Tlaloc accidently bumped into Aka. Aka, already quite jumpy thanks the whole none-existent scream thing, leapt back in fright.

"Sorry" Tlaloc apologised "Excuse me." Tlaloc followed the Derya kids, but Aka remained frozen to the spot.

'_I-I feel dizzy_' he thought.

"That Tlaloc sure is a nice spirit, isn't he?" Isis was off in her own world, not noticing Aka in his predicament.

'_It's happening again_!' Aka felt a tingle go up his spine as his heart raced. Then everything dropped away into blackness. But this time, it didn't stay that way for long. A picture came into view, with Aka hovering over it. Tlaloc was cornering a terrified Pebble up against a cliff.

"If you keep being difficult, it will mean big trouble for you" warned Tlaloc. Then Pebble gave a scream.

'_No_!_ NO_!' Aka tried to back away. The scene melted away and the well and Isis came into view. Aka didn't care though. He was terrified. He couldn't believe what he just saw.

'_W-What in the world was that_?'


	7. A terrible discovery

**Explorers of the time rift**

**Fire and Water**

**A terrible discovery **

"So let me get this straight. You saw Tlaloc cornering Pebble and threatening him?" Aka nodded as Isis gave him a doubtful look "Are you sure?"

"Positive" Aka nodded vigorously.

"And now you want to go and save Pebble right away?" asked Isis. Aka nodded again "It's an...emergency?!" Aka nodded vigorously again "Well, what you're saying sounds like an emergency, but... Well it's not like I don't trust you Aka but... I just can't believe it! After all Tlaloc sounded like a really nice spirit, didn't he?"

"Isis stop playing around!" Aka folded his arms "I know what I saw!"

"You're probably just tired Aka, like I don't blame you after Rally started functioning as an alarm clock" Isis started smiling to his dismay "Maybe that's why you had a bad daydream." Aka was starting to doubt himself.

'_Was it that it...? Just a bad daydream_?' he wondered '_But come to think of it... that Tlaloc didn't seem like a bad spirit._'

"Anyway, we're apprentices, we can't exactly go wherever we want" said Isis "Sure it's worrying but...we have to concentrate on our guild work for now. We should get back to the guild, before you have another hallucination."

* * *

><p>When they returned to the outlaw notice board, Icaria was gone. Instead they found yet another earth spirit. This one was probably about Aka's age with dust-brown hair and brown chocolate-button eyes.<p>

"Hi there!" For once they found someone at the guild besides cold Icaria who didn't smile with a grin big enough to stretch room there to Texas "I'm Enki. I'm one of the apprentices, like you two. Icaria sent me to help you pick the right outlaw for you to find."

"Well, hopefully you'll give us more sympathy that Icaria" said Isis "So thanks."

"Well, you've got to pick from this sorry bunch of characters" explained Enki.

"Let's see" Isis cocked her head to one side "Who should we pick?" From nowhere a siren went off.

"Stand clear! Updating listing!" called a voice in the same style as Sentry, but it wasn't the little earth spirit's voice.

"What's that?!" cried Isis, leaping back from the board.

"Don't worry" Enki sounded quite calm "The data's just being updated." Without warning, the notice board turned around so it faced into the wall, leaving them looking at a blank wooden back.

"What just happened?" Aka blinked.

"Oh, Kun's updating the listings" Enki said as if he was discussing the weather.

"Updating the listing?" Isis asked "And who's Kun?"

"Well, you guys remember little Sentry, right?" Enki asked they both nodded "Well, Kun's his older brother."

"More earth spirits?" Aka guessed.

"Yup, but Kun has a different job" Enki went on "Whenever new listings are brought in, Kun switches the boards around and adds new posters up. It involves a lot of work in the tunnels behind the scenes, and he's not noticed very much, but it's a job Kun prides himself with." Enki paused and his eyes rolled to face the ceiling "Well, except for on Sundays, that's when he makes Sentry do his job."

"But if Sentry's behind the wall on Sundays, who's below the grate?" asked Isis.

"Me most of the time" Enki answered "Sometimes Kuro, the tiny black dragon, or Tirta, the redheaded water spirit, does it. Once Hina, the blonde light spirit with minor nature powers, tried to do it but she was so useless Rally physically dragged her back to her room and lectured her...very loudly."

"Hang on, if Sentry takes the Sunday shift, what does Kun do on Sundays?" Aka asked. Enki looked puzzled for a while before opening his mouth to say something, but before he could start the notice boards flipped round again so the posters were in view.

"Alright, updates are listed" Enki nodded "So let's choose you an outlaw." Isis thought for a moment before pointing at a poster level with her head.

"A thief - this guy doesn't look so bad" Isis commented "What do you think Aka? Aka?" She frowned. Aka wasn't apparently paying any attention to what she was saying. He was shivering and glaring at one of the posters.

"Isis" he growled slowly, his crimson eyes hard and his broad shoulders tense "Look. up. there." Isis looked at the posters, desperately trying to work out what was bugging Aka so much.

"Why are you shivering?" Enki asked him "It's not cold in here, is it?" Isis looked around for an open window, but all the windows were closed. She knew that, being a fire spirit, Aka's body reacted them temperature differently than most spirits' did, but something told her this wasn't the case here.

"The top left" Aka said through gritted teeth. Isis looked at the mentioned poster and almost screamed. The only reason she didn't was because Aka had zipped away up the ladder.

"Aka!" she cried, rushing up the ladder after him. Enki stood there, blinking.

"Now what's going on?" he groaned "Hey! Wait up!" He made to run after them...

...And promptly tripped over his own foot and landed on his face.

* * *

><p>"Aka! Aka!"<p>

Isis hurried outside, letting the wind whip her long black hair back. She was faster than Aka and so caught up with him at the crossroads.

"What are you doing?!" She demanded, grabbing his shoulders, which were about level with her ears, and spinning him round. She almost jumped at the harsh look in Aka's red eyes.

"I'm an idiot" he growled. He clutched his ears and let his nails tear into them, his eyes screwed shut "I'm such a idiot!"

"Stop beating yourself up over this!" Isis seized Aka's hands and yanked them away from his ears before he could tear them off. She winced as she noticed there was blood under his nails, but Ala didn't seem to show any pain "What's wrong?" Aka screwed his ears shut again, turning his head away.

"Tlaloc! He's a wanted criminal!" he growled "Wanted for theft and kidnapping!" Isis gave a gasp of shock, taking a step back. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry Aka, but, you can't expect me to..."

"You saw the poster Isis!" Aka's eyes were open now, steeled with an emotion Isis didn't want to identify "It had his name written right across it! And the visions I had, it means he's going to hurt Pebble!" Isis was speechless for a second, then swallowed.

"Well, maybe it's just a..."

"Isis! Mr...whatever you're called! Help!"

The two turned to the right to see a girl with very long blonde hair of an age of about 8 years of age wearing a long blue, fur-rimmed coat and an amulet that identified her as a Derya like Isis.

"Hey! Wavebreak!" Isis didn't pick up on the extreme worry of the child spirit's face and waved to her merrily "Guess what! We just discovered Aka might be psychic!" Aka gently smashed her upside the head and shoved her aside.

"Where's Pebble?" he demanded Wavebreak, rather roughly. The young Derya wiped her clear blue eyes with her sleeve.

"That's just it" she sniffed "After we left, we all went to look for our lost item together... But I wound up all alone when Mr Tlaloc went somewhere with Pebble! I called and called! But they didn't come back!" She was practically sobbing by the end. Aka produced a handkerchief from his pocket that Isis had given him, knelt down and dried the child's tears with it. He looked Wavebreak right in the eye.

"Which way did they go?" he asked her as calmly as possible.

"T-This way!" Wavebreak stammered, taking off down the path again. Aka swiftly followed, tailed by a grumbling Isis.

* * *

><p>Just after they had left, Enki arrived on scene. The earth spirit was coughing and wheezing badly, arms waving in the air.<p>

"Hey! Wait!" he cried, glancing down all three paths ahead to see which one his missing charges had gone down. Finally, he collapsed on his butt at the base of the well.

"I'll w-wait for them to come back. They can't be gone long."

Two minutes later, he was asleep.


End file.
